The present invention relates to a means for sewing closed the toe portion of a tubular hosiery item, to complete or finish the item.
Women's hosiery items are made both with and without a heel portion formed thereon. Essentially, the hosiery item includes a tubular article in the form of a stocking which has one end sewn to form the toe portion. When the hosiery item is made without a heel, automatic sewing of the toe portion or tip may be accomplished by disposing the tubular article over an appropriate support. This support is preferably a usual pneumatic inverter apparatus having multiple tubular supports. However, the tubular article does not fit closely on the tubular support. The hosiery item or stocking so held can have its toe portion closed by automatic sewing devices. On the other hand, the present method of sewing the open tip portion of a stocking when a heel is applied is not automatic. Because the toe portion of the hosiery item or stocking must be sewed in a very definite and particular position relative to the heel portion, the manipulation of the stocking to ensure that the sewing machine operates in a proper manner is still done by hand. Moreover, since there is a need for manual manipulation of the hosiery item or stocking to ensure that the sewing thereof is correct with respect to the placement of the heel, the production of stockings or other hosiery items provided with a heel is much more complex than the production methods for stockings or other hosiery items without a heel, and the quality of the product with the heel is usually inferior to that without the heel.